Grateful
That moment I saw the pure joy of a child of poverty playing with a broken soccer ball, dirty bare feet pounding on the pavement…the time I witnessed the gratitude of a refugee girl for a sticker placed on her hand, perhaps the only gift she’d receive that year…the day I saw an orphan boy’s pure satisfaction at having his hand held, one of the few times he’d ever been shown affection in his life…these moments changed my life forever.
It is such moments that can make you realize just how much you have to be grateful for at any moment. Now, they don’t force you to realize this; in all of those priceless memories I mentioned, I had companions complaining about the food, or the weather, or the work they were doing…and the moment passed them by, leaving them unchanged.
But, if you can be present, and pay attention, life will stun you with its beauty, stupefy you with the simple joy of every beat of your heart, and strip your fear and worry with confidence that you are where you are, and you will be where you will be, guaranteed.
Many feel that their unhappiness is justified, and that they have no reason to be grateful. And to you I say, I’m sure that’s true from where you’re standing. But you can take a step forward. You can turn to face a new horizon. You can choose a different perspective. There is no time, no place, no position where happiness and gratitude cannot be discovered.
So where’s yours?
